Words Beginning With L
by Claire Poncherrii
Summary: All Mikan wanted was a normal high school life. But we all know that there's no such thing for anyone anywhere... especially at the elite boarding school, Alice Academy. Since when did life become so complicated and dramatic? NxM.
1. Chapter 1: LIFE

Claire Poncherrii presents...

_The first chapter of:_

**~Words Beginning With L~**

An original Gakuen Alice fan fiction.

_Dedicated to..._

_ Leenoy (Little-Miss-Giggle), one of the strongest girls I know,_

_Dr. Anna (My Hopeless Romantic), my psychologist (a nut treating a nut, lol),_

_and_

_Kristina (ma meilleure amie), the most lovable whore in the country._

**

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A/N: Wow, how many months has it been? Ten? Eleven? Now, my dear readers, let's consider this a normality comeback after the huge amount of studying for the SAT II and AP exams coming up. Hopefully, posting this will make me feel less stressed (?). Please enjoy this story. I hope you become to love this as much as I do :) Let's pray that I'll update this ASAP! Read and review!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice, but I do own this fanfiction... so any plagiarizers will suffer all levels of hell and up again, and down again. Understood? Good.

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CHAPTER ONE: LIFE

I've officially suffered from onset insomnia since I turned eleven. Ever since I was little, I had trouble falling asleep, but it was when I turned eleven when I realized that I it wasn't normal for children to go to bed at four in the morning and still not fall asleep. I found out that I couldn't sleep for more than one hour, and falling asleep was even harder.

So I was constantly tired and sometimes had panic attacks when I was stressed in anyway.

Don't get me wrong- I'm a normal fourteen year old girl. I had tons of friends and started to get treatment when my parents and my doctor realized that my insomnia was not a temporary rebellious stage, but was actually something over twenty million people in the world suffered from. It was something that could be treated with medication.

But I didn't really want to take them. Then again, I had to in order to live life normally. So I entered a private middle school two years ago after being bullied by other girls for stealing attention by wearing pretty dresses. It's not my fault my mom liked dressing me up. I'm not the type of person to wallow over the past, but I really wished my parents had let me go to Tachibana from the beginning, rather than go to a public middle school. I'm not saying that public middle schools were bad, but I didn't fit in there. I got bullied if I wore a designer brand my mom loved, or if I performed too well in orchestra. They even called me an ugly, spoiled brat.

Hey, I'm not ugly! Don't get the wrong I idea. I think I'm passably pretty. After all, both my parents were attractive. It's not like the child of two beautiful people could be considered ugly. But then again, I only looked somewhat pretty when I popped the "snooze" pills. During vacation or when I just didn't feel like taking a pill or two, the next morning, I'd show up in school like hell. In fact, I'd go through hell even if I took benzodiazepine (try saying that three times fast); I'd sometimes feel even more tired than if I didn't.

But when I didn't feel tired, I felt high and had panic attacks. I had panic attacks right after waking up if I had been lucky enough to fall asleep. The whole idea of being gone from the world for over an hour was foreign to me, as it was foreign to a normal person if he or she stayed awake for twenty hours straight every day.

When I was thirteen, we watched a video about drug addicts in health class. I didn't want to become a druggie, but it seemed like I was heading toward that way, even if my reason to depend on stupid sedatives was medical.

I was pretty much constantly tired. It was really hard to keep up with my friends' hang outs and all when I didn't take my benz. At my old school, we had a sleep-away camp, and it was the time that I thought popping pills were normal, and not something that was scorned by society.

But when Mikan Sakura, the girl who was outgoing and atheletic was actually taking drugs, then the whold gossipping grape vine would find out. Boy, were those mean girls who dumped water on me on daily basis so happy to get rid of me.

Both my classmates and I thought that Mikan Sakura would never have a normal life again.

At least that's what I believed before entering Tachibana Private Middle School. There, I met friends who didn't know I had medical problems. I don't think they would even care if they knew. But I didn't tell them. Why tell if they don't ask? The people at Tachibana were my first true friends. I had friends back in public school, but they were moochers who looked for a birthday present from me that cost more than their Barbie doll houses in exchange for a phony party invitation (which ended up in another, "let's talk about Mikan behind her back while she's in front of you").

At Tachibana, unlike my previous school, the courses were challenging enough for me not to seem like a bored know it all, but gave me the label of a hard worker. I fit in perfectly, and everyone was chill. On school days, I'd either take pills and go to school pretending to be fine, or I'd come to school tired looking perfectly fine. Just a light dab of make up could turn hours awake into hours of beauty sleep. In other words, at Tachibana Private Middle School, Mikan Sakura was the cheerful girl who took part in a lot of extracurriculars.

In a way, being busy during the day made me less busy during the night.

So, the two perfect years passed by pretty fast, and high school came. And life... became not so normal anymore, but this time it wasn't because of insomnia. It was because of a dictionary with only the words that began with the letter "L."

**xoxo**

When you add someone on facebook, it doesn't mean that you're real friends. If you're not actually friends with the person in real life, but are friends on facebook, it usually means that you either: A, know of the person's name because of all the rumors that fly around in school, or B, know the person's face, but have never spoken to you before.

To me, Natsume Hyuuga was the former. Actually, the latter too, because whenever I went over Aoi's house during vacations, he would pass by without looking at me. And sooner or later, his existance to me was only in gossips Sumire or his little fangirls talked about. When I added him on facebook, it was only because I needed one more to reach the seven hundred mark before Sumire. Thankfully, he added me back before Tsubasa Andou added Sumire back. That, I was eternally greatful for, because it meant a whole week of free lunch.

I sometimes wonder what's going in in his head, but then just passively push the curiosity away, because, really. Why waste time thinking about someone so... anti-social about him? I actually saw him pretty often. Aoi invited me over a lot, since I was like an older sister to the lonely girl. When she was little, girls apparently used her to get to Natsume.

Now, you might think that, how can this girl not talk to him whenever she could? Well, let me answer that.

It was because he was a huge nerd who went to soccer practice everyday and never skipped a violin lesson in his life. When he wasn't busy playing Mozart or games, Natsume Hyuuga would shut himself in his room doing whatever he does. You would think that living in the dorms of Alice Academy over fifty percent of the time, he would spend quality time with his little sister. But no, Natsume Hyuuga hardely talked to little Aoi and was an anti-social geek. Even when there were other people around, like his "friends" that were over sometimes when I was a guest, he still kept to himself, and his little groupies just hung out. Even them, although they only interacted with me once or twice, remembered my name and gave enthusiastic greetings.

I had no interest in Natsume Hyuuga. He was certainly attractive (after all, he was Aoi's brother) with his high cheekbones, whole pale completion and dark hair, but he was to me, entirely boring.

Contrary to popular belief, Natsume Hyuuga did not sleep around with high class sluts. Neither is he the heir to billions. Sure, he was the nephew of the president of an international conglomerate company, PERSONA, that produced from movies to planes to computers, but that was on his mother's side, so naturally he wouldn't be the heir; his cousin would. His father was the late artist who was famous for being the Van Gogh or Da Vinci of the century. He designed a lot of furniture and did a lot of interior design. In fact, a lot of pieces in our house were gifts from him. He was friends with my mother, since Mrs. Hyuuga was really close friends with my mom in high school. Unfortunately, Mr. Hyuuga passed away when he was five due to a car crash. After the handsome elder Hyuuga passed away, Mrs. Hyuuga became a work-o-holic. She was famous in society for being the "it" defense lawyer in the country.

She was kind and caring, but she was much too absent.

People with such backgrounds were not rare at a boarding school for rich kids: Alice Academy. Everyone who had or is attending Alice Academy had powerful parents and had the money to prove it. Everyone there, essentially, were the top of the food chain of Toyko's young elites.

Or someone who WILL attend Alice Academy. Like me. And Hotaru, Sumire, Anna, and Yuu.

I have insomnia, and I'm going to attend a boarding school. That's pretty much my high school story plot. Sort of, I hope. Well, you must think I'm crazy. Why won't Mikan go to the private school near her house instead? It was where most of her friends were going. I mean, my friends. I'm Mikan. Let's make that clear.

The first reason was that Alice Academy was elite and had extraordinary extracurricular activities. I need something to do constantly, and the school had it. In my registration form, I had already signed up for the string orchestra, and set up a place in the girls' swim team try outs.

My doctor had suggusted me to take on as many activities as possible to keep myself busy to stimulate endorphins release. After the high, I would mentally be tired and match my physical fatigue and finally, the Sandman would finally visit the Sakura mansion.

The second reason was that Alice Academy was famed for its Literature courses (along with its other superior departments, but none of those really matter to me). I liked reading and writing. Every night, I would read until I finally fell asleep (even if it was for an hour). Reading sometimes helped. When you have extra hours at night and you finished stalking over eight hundred people on facebook and everyone was offline on AIM, what you did was read.

Literature was facinating. It was always there. Even if you fell asleep, when you woke up, the writing will always be there for you.

The third reason was that about fourty five percent of Tachibana Private Middle School moved on to Alice Academy. I was pretty much friends with everyone there, and even though Alice Academy was absolutely huge compared to the fifteen-hundred populated Tachibana, society was going to be fun. I'd make new friends, and I will get a high from a stimulated brain and finally fall asleep.

The final reason and most important reason was that my parents had attended Alice Academy and they found each other there. Actually, that's not true. It was through Alice Academy that they met. My mother and father never interacted at high school, because my mother was an active member of the language arts department, and my father was a mathematical god in the math department. He was a senior when my mother was a freshman, so they never met during school. But alas, all love stories must have the heroine and hero meet. When my mom was a senior, my dad had came back to Alice Academy to drop off a document to the principle, and he offered to help her carry a few books from the library to the dorms. Thus, true love was found and three years later, a baby was born.

That baby was me. I'm an only child, by the way.

I wanted to find true love too. You know how in the movies and romance novels, the girl always end up with the boy in bed? I'm not saying that I was going to try to get laid in high school, but I wanted to find someone who would lay next to me in bed, so I could stare at him without getting bored every night. I would thank my lucky stars that I had insomnia and could stay up for over twenty hours straight and constantly watch that special whoever it may be. I would be content, and when I wake up from a short slumber, he would already be awake and kiss me and I would be glad that I was awake, and not asleep.

Right now, I would be glad that I would be asleep, not a awake.

Well, that's confusing, isn't it? Life is pretty confusing. Simplicity is cool. Yeah...

I wanted normality and the simple noun of "fun," and I would find it at Alice Academy.

At least that's what I thought.

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**Important Message: **_I have seen a lot of plagiarism cases, especially at FP's sister site, fictionpress, and I hate it. I've also seen some on fanfiction (yes, this applies to GA too). In no way is plagiarism okay. It's the worst thing ever, and if you do it then you deserve to go through the harshest punishments in the universe. And you WILL get that- from me. Got it? Because you better: for your own safety and everyone else's. I'm sure everyone has talent to write their own work rather than copy other people's. Thanks for reading._

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**Review! I want to know what you think, Lovelies!**


	2. Chapter 2: LEAVING

Claire Poncherrii presents...

_The second chapter of:_

**~Words Beginning With L~**

An original Gakuen Alice fan fiction.

_Dedicated to..._

_Leenoy (Little-Miss-Giggle), one of the strongest girls I know,_

_Dr. Anna (My Hopeless Romantic), my psychologist (a nut treating a nut, lol),_

_and _

_Kristina (ma meilleure amie), the most lovable whore in the country._

_

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_

**A/N: The second chapter already? Wow, I'm on a roll! I hoped everyone enjoyed the first chapter. I want to thank everyone who added this to their favorite and alert. I especially am grateful to the readers who reviewed. I'd love to know your reactions. I would love constructive criticism too! Read and review, everyone! Enjoy!**

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Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice, but I do own this fanfiction... so any plagiarizers will suffer all levels of hell and up again, and down again. Understood? Good.

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CHAPTER TWO: LEAVING

"Mikan! I hate writing!"

I smiled. It was three o'clock in the afternoon on the last day of summer vacation. I had just came back from lunch with Sumire and the girls at our favorite cafe. Tomorrow, I was going to be a student and resident at Alice Academy, which meant any lunch times would not be spent at the cute cafe we discovered last year.

"Good afternoon to you too, Aoi," I closed _The Elegance of the Hedgehog_, and entered my bedroom from the veranda tea table.

"I can't do this anymore," my underclassman whined, "I can't write a stupid thesis about Andrew Carnegie!"

I laughed. Aoi was one of my younger friends, and I often helped her in schoolwork. I didn't mind. In fact, I loved it. The fact that I could help someone made me happy.

"Well, you were the one who randomly decided to write an essay on Carnegie when I told you that you were better off writing about Kreisler or whatever."

"I didn't know that there was more to Andrew Carnegie than his stupid music Hall!"

I sighed, grabbing my bag and a light jacket, "I'm coming over," I told her, not bothering to ask whether she wanted my help.

"Thank you!"

Both were my parents were out, which meant that they were each either teaching a class or giving a lecture. They were professors at Peter University and were pretty popular teachers there. But this doesn't mean that they're never home. In fact, they're always home. The love birds would leave the house at eight and come home at five, like normal parents. They were perfect parents, and I was thankful for that. Unlike Aoi's often absent mother, my mom and dad always checked up on me. As much as I hated them for doing this, the two would take turns waking up in the middle of the night to make sure I was fine and didn't have a random panic attack. Thankfully, since I entered Tachibana Private Middle School, I rarely had one. Still, my parents decided to be over protective and checked up on me.

"Grandpa," I called out to the housekeeper, "could you send a car for me to the Hyuuga's?"

"Of course, Mikan," his eyes wrinkled into a smile, "have a safe trip. The car will drive in front of the front gates."

"Thanks! I'll see you later!"

He wasn't actually my Grandpa. My dad came from a rich family and Grandpa acted like his father, and was the housekeeper before my real grandparents decided to give up my dad's childhood home for his new family. My real grandparents live in France now. My mom was a scholarship student and was the daughter of a newspaper columnist and a photographer. They both passed away before I was born. Our family wasn't that big. It was just my dad's parents, his widowed older brother and his son on my dad's side. All my Mom had left on her side of the family were her cousin and his parents.

"Miss Sakura, we have arrived at the Hyuuga's mansion," the driver announced, opening my car door. "When would you like me to pick you up?"

"In three hours will be fine. Please tell my parents that I should be in time for dinner."

"Of course. I will see you later, Miss Sakura."

"Mikan is fine, remember?" I smiled before thanking and entering the large castle.

The Hyuugas' house was very different than mine. While my parents decorated the house with Victorian style furniture and detailed paintings, Aoi's home was of modern style; sharp and cool. When you entered the main hall in my house, you would be greeted with a few maids in knee-length skirts and vases of flowers, but their entrance was the opposite. The maids all wore skinny jeans with heels and a large dress shirt. There weren't any flowers, but instead, there were moving pictures projected on the large white walls with overheads replacing where a chandelier would be at mine.

It was in all, very, very cool.

"Mikan!" Aoi popped out of the kitchen after the maids clicked away with my jacket. Mrs. Hyuuga was such a fashionista that she made sure her maids looked as good as her.

"Sweetie, why are you in the kitchen? Weren't you working on your essay?"

"I know," she shrugged, "but I decided to get something to eat for us before you get all 'you forgot a comma here' on me."

I laughed. I was an only child, so it felt good to have someone who looked up to me.

"Hey, let me use your bathroom before I get all 'you forgot to put this in the same tense as before' on you," I winked, handing her my bag.

"As much as I hate it when you nag," Aoi sighed, "all the essays you look over get me A's."

"That's not true. Even if I didn't help you, you can get A's. It's just a few minor mistakes I find."

Making my way to one of the many bathrooms in the mansion, the closer I got to Natsume's room, the louder the music became.

_Mozart's Third Violin Concerto in G._

He always played the song whenever he practiced. It was an easy song, but it was my favorite piece. My first concerto was this piece.

Natsume was probably better than me at the violin. His mom always forced him to perform a duet with his sister at the Christmas Eve party she always hosted. Aoi always complained about how hard she worked, his abilities would never be matched. Unfortunately, I had to disagree. Aoi loved playing the violin, while Natsume practiced like it was an obligation. His music didn't have any emotion. It was pure accurate notes and technique.

Suddenly the music stopped. For some reason, I forgot about going to the bathroom when he came out of his room.

"Hn," he nodded to me. It's an improvement, I guess.

"How are you, Natsume?" I decided to be polite, even though his manners definitely didn't deserve it. He looked at me if I asked him a less normal question. Just as I have told you, Natsume Hyuuga has no experience with girls, never mind about people in general.

"Fine," he gulped. It was almost like he couldn't breath. He wouldn't even look at me, but instead side stepped me to head to the bathroom.

Maybe he hated me. Even when other people at parties talked to him, he didn't act as stoic as he did now. Sure, he always kept the small talk short and didn't smile, but Natsume Hyuuga was smooth. He was cool, quiet, and boring.

So clearly, it was either because I smelled weird or he had something wrong with his throat.

"Wait!" he stopped, not turning around, "Why do you always play that song?"

He swirled around with calamity, and for the first time, I noticed how silky his hair was.

"That's because..." he blurted, "You! You..."

He stopped and then kept on walking, pretending nothing happened. Natsume Hyuuga was so uncool today.

"Me?" I asked, and he turned around with his normally blank face, told me it was none of my business and slammed the door of the bathroom shut.

"I... I need to go to the bathroom," I whispered, and decided to just go to the other bathroom on the other side of the huge mansion.

Well. That was awkward. Natsume Hyuuga was a turtle. An overturned, turquoise turtle.

Today was the first time we had a proper conversation.

If one can even call it that.

**xoxo**

By the time I had finished pushing Aoi to finish her summer homework and arrived home, it was already a little past six, and my parents were leaving their office to go to the dining room.

"Ah, Mikan, Grandpa just announced that dinner is served," my mom smiled.

"You're home, Sweetheart," my dad joined her down the staircase, making toward my way, "he told us the cook made your favorites. You're not going to have any of your favorite dishes until Christmas vacation!"

I really was going to miss my parents. They had always been there, and no matter what, they had stayed awake when I was little. They didn't know that I still had a lot of trouble falling asleep. I didn't want to bother them. I couldn't have asked for a better set of parents who were so supportive while being so busy.

"I forgot to tell you," my mom remembered after we went over the list of luggage that had been sent over to the dormitories this morning, "Natsume will be hitching a ride from you tomorrow morning."

"What?"

"Mikan," she started, "I know Natsume is a little anti-social, and you don't seem to like him so much, but please bear with me. Their family driver is sick, and it's much more convenient for both him and Kaoru (his mother) if he traveled with you. Your father and I would go with you if we could, but you know we won't be able to make it."

"It's okay, Mom," I looked down at my feet.

"Why don't you go to bed early tonight?" my dad sipped his tea, "I know it's a little early and you might not fall asleep for a while, but I'd like you to rest. After all, you'll be departing around five tomorrow morning."

I hardly think I'll get any sleep tonight, even if I didn't have insomnia. I was both nervous and excited for the first day of high school. I've went to the campus for a reunion party for my parents. Considering that the school housed most of the students in its dorms (some were day students) and that the students were strictly not allowed to be off school grounds except on weekends, it wasn't much of a surprise that Alice Academy was more like a suburban town rather than a high school.

Going to bed at nine really didn't work. Supposedly I was "in bed" for eight hours, but since I was anxious, I looked over all the documents the school had sent to me a month ago. I really couldn't wait for orchestra. My father, who had also played the violin when he was little, told me that I would be really surprised at how amazing the school orchestra was. Even Aoi, who scorned a lot of orchestra for not being into the music loved its concerts. She told me that Natsume was the concertmaster since his entrance. Hopefully, I would get a good seating. I had been the assistant concert-mistress to Aoi at Tachibana, but not to be conceited, but we were beyond the league of everyone else.

Usually, if I were to fall asleep, I would do so around four o'clock in the morning. However, it was already four, and I had been awake for the past whatever-many-hours.

I wasn't really sleepy though. Contrary, I was energized by the whole exercise of curious thoughts that were swimming around in my head in bed. I walked around the mansion after changing into a comfortable sundress that was a gift from Grandmother. I was going to miss the house I had grew up in.

"Mikan, I see you're already awake," Grandpa appeared from the kitchen.

"Good morning," I smiled. Even though I was going to miss my parents and my friends who weren't going to Alice Academy too, I was probably going to miss Grandpa the most. He was my caretaker since I was little; almost like a babysitter. While my parents weren't home when they were working, Grandpa spent the majority of his life working in the house.

His eyes crinkled as he smiled. I never noticed how old Grandpa was getting.

"I can't believe Mikan is growing up so fast. You're an adult now, leaving home. I feel like it was only yesterday that you would wake me up early in the morning to take a walk with you."

"Aw, Grandpa don't get all sentimental!" I blushed, "It's not like I'm going to be gone for too long. I'll be back in December for vacation! That's like in four months! you'll wish that it was longer when I come back and you have your workload doubled."

"Now, you know that's not true. Come here and taste the pastries I made for your trip. I baked double so you can share it with Natsume."

"I don't think Natsume likes to eat sweets..."

"Mikan, how would you know? Just because he's quiet doesn't mean he won't like sweet things."

Right, don't judge a book by its cover. That was true, but if there was so many chances for Natsume Hyuuga to small talk with me, why didn't he do so? When he drank coffeee, he didn't add anything. He had it black. While I hated coffee, it was even worse black. How do I know this? Well, it's because one of my best friends (ahem, Sumire) was the president of his fan club.

Yes, Natsume even had a fan club at his middle school that wasn't his alta mater (he attended a boarding school in England when he was in middle school... it's actually a little creepy that I know so much about him...). The number of girls in the the club were surprising. I didn't even want to know how many girls made up the fan club at high school. Sumire told me that she was made officer even though school hadn't started yet, for "being dedicated to Natsume Hyuuga even when he was absent while" her rule of the club. Apparently, due to her commercialism of Natsume, the number of girls in the club doubled.

So please, do not talk about not judging a book by its cover with me. It was the girls who doggly devoted themselves to finding out Natsume's favorite color (red) instead of finding out that he was a boring guy.

You might be wondering how I even became friends with Sumire. We actually had this little rivalry at first. It was just a few cafeteria fight about a girl who apparently made a move on Natsume at a party that sparked our social contact. She was absolutely obsessed with him.

"While you enjoy breakfeast, I'll go wake your parents up," he patted my head as I leafed Vogue that was left on the counter.

"Okay."

It was actually surprising how much I knew about Natsume, but also how much I didn't. For example, he liked jazz music, but hated rap. He was left handed and his favorite type of rosin was Hill dark. However, when he played tennis, he used his right hand. Sort of like the main character from that manga.

Then again, I couldn't really trust Sumire. Gossip can change right? Besides, it's not like you can learn about any deep heart goo with one car ride. Maybe I'll sell some information to Sumire. Free lunch always seems good to me.

For example, Natsume Hyuuga tended to be early to meet ups. At least this time.

The door bell rang once, and I put down my fork. I wondered if I should go greet him or if Grandpa would get the gates for him. It was far too early in the morning for any of the housekeeping and maids to be home. Also, it was Sunday, so they would come in the afternoon. Only Grandpa and his son were permanent worker-residents at the mansion. His son was the cook, but he was going to move out soon since he was getting married to his fiance on Christmas day. It was romantic, but I would miss Chef Kurata.

The door bell rang again, and I sighed. The sound rang through the halls and there were no clicks of heels rushing to open the gates, and nor were there the distinctive light tapping of Grandpa's cane. My parents offered to have him to stay at the mansion as the accountant instead of running around, but he refused, still enjoying his job.

"Hello?" I pressed the speak button. I didn't really like the whole gate thing. It was something my grandparents put up years ago, but it wasn't needed. The gate was pretty, but the distance from it to the actual front door was only about one hundred yards.

"It's Natsume," a deep voice drawled out.

"Oh. Good morning. I'm going to open the gates, so you can tell the driver to drive in."

I wonder why he was the one who was speaking instead of the driver.

"My driver's sick. My mom just dropped me off."

"Sorry," I apologized, clicking the switch to open the gates.

"Come on in. We have breakfast if you didn't have any."

There were silence on the othe end.

"Um, Natsume? Are you there?"

Silence yet again.

I stood there, annoyed. I knew that he was anti-social, but he couldn't have been this awkward at talking. After all, he was able to explain that he didn't have a driver today. What the hell is wrong with this kid?

Knock, knock, knock.

Oh.

"Hi, Natsume," I smiled at his disheveled hair, "come in."

"Thanks," he grumbled, pulling his small luggage bag behind him.

"Let me help you with that."

"It's fine."

He placed his laptop bag on his luggage and stared at me with a blank expression. I couldn't tell if he was expecting something or wanted to say something.

"Er... come to the kitchens. We have some breakfast, if you want some."

"No," he pulled out of his phone, checking the time, "It's about time to go anyway."

"It's... still only four thirty. We're not leaving until five."

He looked up and stopped tapping his phone.

"I need to go the school early today."

I motioned him to the living room, and as we walked down the hallway, I asked, "So... why do you need to go early? Detention already?" I winked.

What was wrong with Natsume Hyuuga? He wouldn't stop looking at me with a blank expression. You could never tell what he was think about!

"No," he finally frowned, "No, I'm not in detention."

I laughed at his confusedness. He was like a little boy who was just told that Santa Clause wasn't real. It was funny, because Sumire always rambled about how mature and clever he was. But serious? She said she was the student council president and was super responsible. Let's try uptight.

"I was just kidding."

"But it wasn't funny."

"Oh, well then. Excuse me."

We sat across each other in the living room, and all the only sound that could be heard were the grandfather clock ticking and the very mute sounds of my parents waking upstairs. He had his eyes on his iPhone, scrolling down something quickly. I took my eyes off of him to leaf the magazine I had taken with me when the doorbell rang.

There are two types of silences: one that is produced by a mutual understanding between the people inside a quiet room, and the other type... was perfectly explained by the situation I had put myself into by getting the doors instead of waiting for Grandpa to greet Natsume Hyuuga.

"My sister's going to miss you."

I looked up. Did the socially challenged boy just talk to me?

"Thank you. I'll miss her too."

"Why are you thanking me? All I did was tell you that she's going to miss you."

Now that is both wonderful and sad at the same time. Wonderful, because it was the most I had ever heard him say at once. Sad, because... he just proved himself either incapable of polite conversation with a girl his age, or he was socially challenged. If it was the latter, I would excuse him with great understanding.

"I'm sure she'll miss you too."

"You're entitled to your own opinion."

I checked the clock. Fifteen minutes already passed, and my parents still weren't down yet. It was ironic how they, who had given me the present of birth, had no trouble sleeping, but actually had trouble being awake.

"I heard you're the student council president. Is it any fun?"

Natsume looked at me incredulously at me with his dark red eyes, "No."

"Then... it must be a lot of work."

"Sure."

We were back to square one, and he reverted back to his one answer questions. However, instead of saved by the bell (whatever that could mean), my parents finally came down to the living room with Grandpa behind them.

"Oh, Mikan and Natsume! Good morning," my father smiled, kissing my cheek before shaking Natsume's hand. My dad was more of a hugger, but because of his social grace, he made a wise decision of greeting the stoic fifteen year old with a simple handshake.

"Mr. Sakura. Thank you for giving me a ride to the school."

"Well now," my dad boomed with laughter, "I'm not exactly the one who's driving, but I'm glad to of a help to your mother and you."

I wish I had a camera with me now, because it may be the first time Natsume Hyuuga cracked a smile. A small, millimeter change in his facial expression, but nevertheless, it was a smile. Pity it was a polite smile, though. He would have looked more handsome if he smiled with sincerity.

I blushed at the thought. Aoi's brother was just a little handsome. He wasn't my type or anything. God, I wish I could smack my forehead without them seeing. Whoever told me to think about if he was my type or not? He was all Sumire and her fangirls'!

"Your mother actually just called," my mom told him after laughing, "She apologized for sending you early. You have a student council meeting later on?"

"Yes. I'm sorry for the bother," Natsume nodded once.

It was absolutely amazing how when he was with me, he blurted random sentences and muttered single-word answers, but when he was conversing with my parents, he was absolutely graceful and smooth. I wasn't violent in nature, but I wondered who he would do if I dangled him from a cliff. A random thought it is, but it's still within the bounds of normal curiosity, right? I would imagine him doing some complicated physics calculations to figure out how to save himself.

Natsume was a mystery. Not that I was interested, duh. He was boring. Right? Yes.

"No, it's not a bother at all. Mikan here couldn't sleep anyway, and I'm in need of the enjoyment of the morning nature."

Grandpa looked up from his beeper, annoucing that the ride was here.

"Are you sure you don't want any breakfast?" I asked Natsume again.

"No. Thank you."

He left the room to give my parents and I privacy after thanking them again. Grandpa followed, offering to help him with the luggage. Natsume looked over his frail body and rejected the offer. However, Grandpa ignored him and followed him out. Grandpa was about my height, but next to Natsume, he looked at least half a foot shorter. It was amazing how Aoi was short, and Natsume was tall. I'm at an average height, I guess.

"Well Mikan, love," my dad hugged me, "I'm really going to miss you."

"Me too, Daddy."

"You're going to have to call us every night before you go to bed."

It was my mom's turn to hug me. It was sort of sad, actually. I had always been shorter than her, but now, she was slightly shorter. I didn't feel like a kid anymore. It's a scary thought.

"Yeah, will do."

"Do you have all your luggage?" my dad asked.

"They're all already in the car."

"Good. We had the talk about sex last night, so we can skip that today," he laughed, "Don't do drugs. Don't get in trouble."

"Have fun, okay? Alice Academy is a fun place. It's school, but it doesn't mean you can't have any fun. Right, Honey?" my mom poked her husband with her elbow.

"I'll miss you guys so much," I hugged them both, each with one of my arm. I'm not going to cry. Nope. I was not going to cry, because I was going to see them in a few months. Finally, I broke the embracment.

"Well, I guess it's time to go. I don't want to leave Natsume waiting in the car, right?"

I was finally leaving home, and going to Alice Academy.

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**Important Message: **_I have seen a lot of plagiarism cases, especially at FP's sister site, fictionpress, and I hate it. I've also seen some on fanfiction (yes, this applies to GA too). In no way is plagiarism okay. It's the worst thing ever, and if you do it then you deserve to go through the harshest punishments in the universe. And you WILL get that- from me. Got it? Because you better: for your own safety and everyone else's. I'm sure everyone has talent to write their own work rather than copy other people's. Thanks for reading._

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_**Thanks for reading! Review me what you think :)**_


	3. Chapter 3: LABEL

Claire Poncherrii presents...

_The third chapter of:_

**~Words Beginning With L~**

An original Gakuen Alice fan fiction.

_Dedicated to..._

_Leenoy (Little-Miss-Giggle), one of the strongest girls I know,_

_Dr. Anna (My Hopeless Romantic), my psychologist (a nut treating a nut, lol),_

_and_

_Kristina (ma meilleure amie), the most lovable whore in the country._

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**A/N: Oh my god. This chapter is full of rambling and on and on description and informations given to you by me (or we can just blame it all on the narrator, Mikan). I'd like to point out that the college her parents teach at, Peters University, comes from Peter Pan. I thought it would be pretty clever, since it's like... Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland... you know? Ha ha ha. Well, this story is going to soon has more motion and dialog to it once all the characters are introduced and relationships are initialized and whatever, okay? Sorry for the wait, and I hope you enjoy another chapter of WBWL! Please review what you think, because your thoughts matter a lot to me. Love ya all :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice, but I do own this fanfiction... so any plagiarizers will suffer all levels of hell and up again, and down again. Understood? Good.**

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CHAPTER THREE: LABEL

Now, if you thought that Natsume's arrival at the Sakura Mansion was awkward, then you have seen nothing yet.

I'm probably one of the most talkative people ever. I talk to everyone, and everyone talks to me. I always have something to say in front of people. But Natsume? What was I even supposed to say to him? We had already discussed his student council stuff and Aoi missing us, but if brought up something I knew about him, then it would seem like I was a stalker. I mean, it's not like it's my fault that Sumire goes on and on about the amazingness of Natsume Hyuuga everyday. Even on the phone, she couldn't go through one conversation without Natsume.

It wasn't only Sumire, though. For some reason every girl at Tachibana Middle school knew what was going on about him. He got a hundred on his biology test one day, and another day he wore a blue shirt to soccer practice. Then the next day, he aced his calculus test. Wait, how can a second year have taken calculus his first year? Well, let's just say that we're talking about Natsume Hyuuga here, not a random guy.

Natsume was actually like my best friend, Hotaru. Hotaru had a huge fan club that spread beyond Japan. But instead of teenage girls in her club, it was mostly rich men who loved her technology. If there was a Nobel Prize for technology, or whatever, then she would probably win one every year with the rate she invented things. I met Hotaru Imai in elementary school. She was a transfer student and at first, we didn't talk very much. But one day, she decided that we would make a good team for this singing competition at school. Ever since then, I sort of stuck to her, as I would guess that she has stuck with me.

My parents had decided to let me go to a public school, and I was fine with it, because Hotaru was going to move to America for a year. It didn't really matter which school I went to, because Hotaru wasn't going to any of them. In fact, the reason why I chose Tachibana to transfer to, was because Hotaru went there. Instead of telling my parents that I couldn't go to my public school anymore, I had told Hotaru. She wanted to blackmail my former classmates, but I didn't want her to make a big deal. I just wanted to be forgotten by the horrible children there. My parents didn't know about my transfer. The only reason I gave them was that Hotaru went to Tachibana.

She was like Natsume in the way that they were both serious and cool, but Hotaru had a super caring side and showed her emotions with actions. Natsume, on the other hand, either didn't have feelings or chose not to show them in any way. I was sure he was the latter, because I still remember the little outburst I had witnessed just yesterday. It was weird how he blurted the words, "That's because... You! You..." Now that I think about it, why was it that he always played that Mozart concerto? And me? I wanted to ask, but since he stopped his sentence (or sentences, in this case) at there, there wasn't more that he would say.

I came to the conclusion that there is nothing between Natsume and I that we could talk about other than the three boring topics: the weather, politics, and the economy. As interesting cumulus clouds and the reelection of the prime minister may be, I really was not the type to talk about these things. Him? Maybe, but it takes two to tango after all.

I waited for Natsume Hyuuga to make the first move.

**xoxo**

So the ride was stupid. Yeah. It's actually possible for two people of the same age to be in a freaking car for three hours without talking. While I read a few books and listened to music, he simple sat there with his iPhone and occasionally took out his laptop to type up a few things. I was going to ask what he was doing, but I knew what he was working on.

According to the Natsume Fanclub Blog, he often carried around his laptop to do student council work and to help his uncle in business. Yeah. A fifteen year old almost going on to sixteen in November was working for his uncle's company, Persona.

As much as I hated to admit, he was probably pretty much perfect under society's eye. He was rich, handsome, and talented. But to me, he was boring, serious, and absolutely awkward.

"Give me your bags," Natsume said to me once the driver dropped us off with our bags. The driver offered to carry them in for us, but security told him that they couldn't allow people without proper identification enter. So Natsume and I was stuck inside the front of the school with my bags (His two doesn't count. What's wrong with boys anyway?).

"It's okay. I can carry them myself," I thanked him, piling the bags on the rolling luggage, pulling slowly. Hey! I was a strong girl. I didn't need insincere help.

Grabbing my top bag, undeniably my largest one containing some of my clothes, he carried it.

Alas, like I have said before, life was not easy when Natsume was around, because he was awkward.

I've probably used that word way too many times. I need to freshen up on my vocabulary. Okay, weird. Natsume was weird.

But what's even more... weird... awkward... was that the bag zipper ripped open, and my underwear tumbled out.

We stood there in silence, this time not just because we didn't have anything to say to each other, but it was because my wonderful collection of pretty patterned under wears were innocently resting on the road leading to the safe zone; the school. First, we have nothing to talk about, and now we had so many things to talk about. Oh god.

"I'm so sorry," I blushed, grabbing fists of underwear, into the tightly packed bag, "I am so, so sorry, Natsume. Wow, that was embarrassing. I'm so sorry you had to see that. I can carry my bags myself. Thank you. Sorry. Thank you."

The next thing Natsume said was something totally uncalled for.

"Aren't you a little too old to wear polka-dotted underwear?"

I laughed. It was impossible for someone like Natsume Hyuuga to say something so perverted. Okay, he did not say that .He literally sneered it.

"I'm sorry. I must have heard you wrong. What did you say?"

"That you're too old to wear that kind of underwear."

I laughed again. Nope. Nope, something must be wrong with me today. It's impossible that he, who ruled over his class at school, would say something so immature and perverted. Absolutely perverted!

"I must be a little sleepy. Never mind. Well. I'll get going to my dorm. Thanks for your help, though," I nodded at him, "I'll see you around?"

Before he could say a word, I turned around and dragged my bag behind me as fast as I could. He did say that I was too old to wear polka-dotted underwear. Right?

Oh god. He's not boring; he's a freaking freak! Screw Sumire and her little (big, oxymoron whatever) fan club! Natsume Hyuuga was not a chill, smooth and mature high schooler. He was a pervert and a anti-social freak!

What the hell?

**xoxo**

"I'm not actually not suprised Natsume Hyuuga said something like that."

I stared at Hotaru. She was my roommate this year. Apparently, she had blackmailed the Alice Academy office to put us of showing her feelings with words or expressions, she took action. She bullied me a lot by stealing parts of my lunch or making me pay for lunch, but if you looked closely in our relationship, you can see Hotaru's protection she gave me. She made sure no one would find out about my insomnia since I was so serious about keeping about it a secret. The reason why instead of snatching a single room, she sacrificed a private bathroom to share one with me. Or it may be because she wants to spend more time with me. Or both. He he he.

"Why not?"

"He's awkward. And he's blunt."

"I guess that's true."

"And he's right. I can't believe you're still wearing those stupid underwear," Hotaru rolled her eyes, "most girls don't wear underwear with teddy bears and rainbow throw up on them."

"They're cute!"

"Whatever," she smiled slightly before getting up from the newly placed couch in our dorm room, "Let's go meet up with Yuu for lunch."

Alice Academy was an amazing place. It was a huge preparatory school that housed over three thousand students, with about a thousand students in each grade. It had a building for every major department: performing arts, foreign language, social studies, language arts, science, math, and athletics. There were even more buildings that were under the department's responsibility. For example, it had the studio house and the laboratory. There were thirty dorm houses; fifteen were for girls, and fifteen for boys. There were ten houses for each grade, five for each gender in a grade. It was a perfect system which apparently promoted a "healthy" competition between houses, even though Alice Academy didn't have any inter-scholar competitions of any kind. It was sort of unreasonable to have dorm competitions, because about twenty percent of the student body lived off campus.

I was in House Higuchi. All of the dorm buildings looked the same, except each had different pillars on the front. While Tougu Boys Dormitory (It's the one Natsume lives in. I don't know how Sumire found out, but after two years of knowing her, I've decided that that was irrevalent) sported pillars with lions and cheetahs or whatever, House Higuchi had pretty flowers and trees carved on the pillars. Rumor had it that Mr. Hyuuga had created them when he was a student here. Aoi doesn't know since he passed away when she was three, and Mrs. Hyuuga was way too busy to answer. Since Mr. Hyuuga graduated about seven years before my dad (making him ten years senior his wife... but I guess number doesn't really matter in love), my parents didn't know either.

The school was founded by a legendary magician, as stupid as it may sound, who wanted to create a sort of utopia of young scholars who would later on become international leaders and celebrities. It was supposed to be the school for dreamers. But now, in the twenty first century, Alice Academy is just another boarding school for the already rich. But thanks to their rich alumni, the school had a beautiful campus in the heart of the upper-side Tokyo.

"I don't get why we have to come a week before classes even start," I sighed, missing my parents and Grandpa already.

"You know why," Hotaru rolled her eyes as we made our way to the Common House (this was a building for all the students to have meals and socialize, even though each dorm house had a small kitchen and cafe-type area), "We have try-outs for the athletic department today and tomorrow, performing arts auditions the two days after, and the autumn orientation the fifth day. Personally, I think they're all a waste of time."

"Well that's because you don't do any extracurriculars," I stuck my tongue out before she could hit me.

"With good reason. They're a waste of time if you're not interested in any of them. It's a pity that Alice Academy requires at least on non-academic extracurricular."

I laughed at Hotaru. She had signed up for all the robotics clubs and the whatever science-technology clubs the Academy had, only to find out that they required every student to participate in a non-academic extracurricular (the divide between non-academic and academic activities was blurry, but in general, any club activities with a non-art-or-athletic teacher who teaches the corresponding subject is considered academic).

"I still don't know why you chose the newspaper club though," I scrunched my nose, "It's not like you enjoy writing or anything."

"You're so stupid, Mikan. Alice Academy is famous for spreading gossip. With a huge school like this, people depend on the school news blog to catch up with the latest information."

"You sound like Sumire."

This time, Hotaru was able to smack me on the head.

"But seriously. You should be more careful with what you do, Mikan," she looked more serious than she usually was, if that was even possible, "Your entrance with Natsume Hyuuga will probably be all over the blog if anyone saw."

Yep. Life at Alice Academy was going to be a nice boat trip down the stream.

**xoxo**

Either Sumire already heard about my trip to the school with Natsume, or she didn't make it onto the cheerleading squad. I hoped it was the latter, because there are two reasons. One, it would mean she wouldn't bother me about Natsme Hyuuga. Two; according to my mother's cousin, Shuichi Sakurano (he had graduated a few months ago, along with Hotaru's brother), the cheerleading squad was famous for... sluttiness. But hey, the guys didn't mind; even my second cousin; the ever so responsible ex-student council president didn't mind they were contaminating the school with STD's.

"So..." I began carefully after Sumire threw a bowl of salad down and took the seat in front of me. She had the scary cat glare on, only to be exaggerated by her natural emerald eyes.

"Um," I started again after she didn't say anything but continued to glare, "What's up, Sumire?"

Oh god. She probably found out about Natsume.

"Oh. My. God!" she screamed, startling other students in the huge cafeteria, "You came to school with Natsume Hyuuga, and you didn't tell me?"

Oh my god, indeed.

"It was last minute," Hotaru defended me.

"You talked to Natsume Hyuuga?" this time Anna exclaimed, "What did you guys talk about?"

"We didn't talk at all," I sighed.

This was going to be a crazy lunch. It was bad enough that I forgot my wallet and my student card, causing a minor skirmish at the security office at the door.

"I hope Natsume didn't bother you," Yuu frowned, "There are some really scary rumors about him."

"He's perfectly fine," this time I defended Natsume, "But you have nothing to worry about, Sumire. He's all yours."

"You lied to me!"

When Sumire came to lying, she will claw your eyes out. In middle school, when a girl lied about going to one of Natsume's soccer games that happened to be in town, Sumire socked her in the eye, only to be sent to the principle. Another time, when we were playing Monopoly with a few boys and they cheated, she made sure they would never be able to enjoy sex. All in all, Sumire was the hater of lies, and the protector of justice. Right.

"I did not lie to you," I sighed.

"You told me last night that you were coming to the school by yourself!"

"Because I offered you a ride," I ran my hand through my hair.

"You asked, 'do you want a ride with me?' NOT 'do you want a ride with me AND Natusme Hyuuga?'!"

"Clearly for good reason," I snorted, now standing up as she was, "Look, Sumire. We're in high school. We're not in middle school anymore."

The rest of the table was silent. Even Kitsuneme didn't even try to crack a joke. The tables around ours were staring, while the farther groups of peaceful lunch-eaters were starting to notice.

"Which means I have a better chance to be with Natsume Hyuuga," she sneered.

I loved Sumire. She's great and protective of her friends, but really now. She was obsessed with Natsume, but she didn't go this far.

"I thought you said Natsume belonged to everyone?" Anna asked, "Isn't that like, the oath of the fan club or something?"

"Who said I was still in the stupid fan club?"

I sat back down, since Sumire stopped glaring at me. She looked more smug than angry. Yuu was frowning, along with Anna while Hotaru simply looked amused. How could she look so amused at such a time! Sumire and I fought a lot, but usually, Hotaru just hit us or whatever to calm us down. Let's just say that Hotaru was super violent.

After I replied with a "oh," she looked at her cell phone, and started texting.

"I have a cheer meeting," she closed her phone, "I'll see you guys whenever."

"You got into the cheer squad?" I frowned.

"Yeah, obviously. Unlike someone, I don't lie to my friends."

You would think that first day of school couldn't be any more dramatic. Just leave it to Sumire to make a huge deal out of something that's not even true.

"I wasn't lying to you! I just forgot to tell you! Anyway, you were the one who texted me three o'clock in the morning that you were nervous!"

"How does that have to do with you lying?" she looked embarrassed.

"I would have made you even more nervous if I told you that Natsume Hyuuga was getting a ride from me."

"So you lied!"

"I didn't lie, Sumire. I didn't tell you a piece of information for your own good."

Before I could fit in another word, she turned and left the hall.

You would think that the first day of school would have been less dramatic. I mean, Sumire always made a huge deal out of everything, and anything about Natsume Hyuuga, but she should have at least been understandable. I guess I could, and maybe should have told her about Natsume getting a ride from me, but the idea of her getting more nervous than she already was not a good one. But anyway, what was with her and the whole "Natsume is going to be mine" thing? She never viewed him as a potential boyfriend or anything; she even told us once that her obsession with him was not love, but of admiration. She viewed him as I view singers and actors.

To make things even worse, it seemed like Sumire became dedicated to cheer squad. Even though it was the first day, Sumire already started putting the squad in front of hanging out with us. It's not like we're an embarrassment; Anna was cute, and Hotaru was considered extremely beautiful. Yuu had the whole "handsome glasses-man" look with a hint of normal nerdy-ness, while Kitsuneme was the funny joker who was so friendly to everyone that a lot of girls had crushes on him.

I grumbled while the others at the table remained silent.

"I have try-outs for the swim team in an hour," I changed the topic with a slight smile, "So give me the rest of your pizza, Kitsuneme."

While eating, I screamed... in my head.

**xoxo**

There were about a hundred girls trying out for the team and only thirty five would make it to the team, while the rest would be pushed down to "swimming club." I, unlike Sumire with cheerleading, didn't mind so much if I made it, since the whole point of swimming for me was to wake me up. Swimming made me feel alive, and it was fun. I would be really happy if I make it to the team, but if I didn't I wouldn't bitch about it.

"Mikan Sakura. Go to lane four," the red haired captain patted me on the back. Her name was Misaki Harada, and she was a third-year backstroker. According to gossip, she was "together" with Tsubasa Andou, but not exactly dating. Whatever that meant, I don't know.

"I'm Mikan," I smiled to one of the girls in my lane as I entered the pool. She had a pretty doll face and was probably the only one in the lane that didn't seem so cut-throat. All the other girls gave off auras that they would do anything to get on the same team as Misaki Harada. She was famous and popular. The jealous girls said it was because she was in an exclusive relationship with Tsubasa, but I say it's because she was the fastest swimmer in the state and was wicked funny. Her pep talk to the first set of swimmers trying out was both funny and serious at the same time. I liked her already.

"I'm Nonoko," the girl shivered in the water. She looked super nervous and tugged at her cap.

"So, what stroke do you do?"

She stared at me, and replied, "Breaststroke."

"Oh, I like backstroke," I smiled at her, and Nonoko finally returned the gesture.

"Excuse me, but do you mind? We have like, no room here," another girl in the lane sneered at us.

"I suppose it's because you're too big to fit in this pool," a girl from the next lane over had heard, and calmly told her.

"I'm Yura by the way," she had a slight smile and leaned over the lane line to shake my hand.

"Mikan."

The idea that about sixty girls just as bitchy as the-girl-with-no-room were watching the first set of thirty swimmers try out was pretty scary. Misaki Harada had organized the large group of hopefuls into four groups, about thirty swimmers in each. Each group would get to practice under the coach's command for thirty minutes, and then swim all four strokes two times at different distances. The system was pretty complicated, but it worked with the first group so I was pretty pumped. Even though the second and third years pretty much had a free pass, there were some first years in the first set that swam just as well as them.

It's not like I wasn't confident, but it also didn't mean that I wasn't so weary. I was being realistic. I was the fastest swimmer on the team I was on when I was in middle school. Sumire joined the team for about a month, but quit after claiming her hair was being killed by the chlorine.

I sighed at the thought of her fight with me this morning. I closed my eyes and held my breath underwater while other girls hopped into the water. Finally, until I needed more air, I surfaced.

"Hey!" I turned around, only to look up at the coach looking down with me, "What do you think you're doing? Everyone else has already started swimming!"

I turned to look at the pool. While I was at the block end of the pool, all the girls were already swimming in the water as fast and impressively as they could.

"If you're not going to start, then get out of the pool," the assistant coach who wore a pair of glasses barked at me.

I apparently swim faster than I usually do when I'm annoyed.

**xoxo**

Endorphins are some crazy things. Some people get tired after they exercise; both mentally and physically. In fact, most athletes are like that. A nice nap after a large meal appears to be the craved after a huge use of adrenaline. I do crave that huge meal of cholesterol and fatty goods after a nice (I beg to differ) workout. But the nice little nap afterwards? No. It doesn't work for me. I'll be found wide awake in my bed, resting my body, but my mind would be racing. Random bursts of memories and thoughts would appear. I'm not talking about dreaming. I rarely dreamed, because I rarely slept.

I tried to stop having random connections between thoughts and cleared my head. Tomorrow was the final day of the try-outs. Fifty girls were already cut today, and I was in the remaining half. I was actually getting nervous. Some of the girls were really good, and there were only about ten spots on the team available. It wasn't pride I wanted to earn, and nor was it the social benefits of making it onto the varsity team.

I already fell in love with the people and the team in general. The coaches were pretty weird, but you could tell they were good pushed and yelled when they needed to, but they stopped when they had to. They didn't act like we were simple machines. We were patted on our packs if we worked hard, and they had given a long speech about not giving up after the fifty girls were cut. A good coach always meant good swimmers. The team already had a special bond. It was as if the second and third years knew what was going on between unspoken words. They had inside jokes about things like whale languages and screamed "dos mas" when there were two minutes left of swimming.

I wanted in on that.

I had friends, but the whole idea of being a "team" or whatever was something I wanted. Back in middle school, the team I was on was cold. We practiced only three times a week, and we left as fast as we came. There was no time for chit chat, and it was all about constant swimming and pushing from the coach.

Contrary, the swim team girls here were nice to everyone; even the first years. They didn't scorn those who didn't make it, and they didn't think that underclassmen were below them.

Then again, there's always some dirt under a pair of pretty heels.

It's actually said that there's this thing between the cheerleading squad and the swim team. Apparently, the two social groups (although I have to say, swim team is much more athletic than the cheerleading squad) always had this dare game every year after tryouts. It's not really publicly clear whether what actually goes on during the game. Some say that the game causes a lot of trouble in the faculty, and others say that security is threatened by the annual "game." The game was a secret, and I would ask Sumire what went on, but I remembered that we were somehow in a fight right now.

I turned on my bed, facing Hotaru's bed all the way on the other side of the single large bedroom that we shared. The clock said that it was already one in the morning. We had turned the lights off and went to bed three hours ago. I was nowhere near asleep.

I sighed, wishing that she would talk to me right now. But Hotaru gets angry easily if someone wakes her up while she's asleep. Slowly, I got up to get a drink of water from our living room through the bedroom door. It was almost as if she knew exactly what was going on in my head, because before I turned the knob, it appeared that Hotaru had already woken up.

"I'd be careful from tomorrow on, Mikan," she turned right side up slowly, looking at me, "I don't know much about what goes on between the swimmers and the cheerleaders, but all I know is that the first years are the main players in the game. Also, I'd carry my cell phone with me all the time everyday. You never know when you'll need any help."

After speaking, she turned to her side and went back, slightly snoring. It was a comforting sound. Even though she didn't say so directly, Hotaru had offered her help to me. I smiled. She always knew what was going on in my head.

I didn't need a drink anymore, but instead of simply going to bed, I took a book from one of my half unpacked boxes and turned the bedside lamp on to read. It was good that the room was big, because otherwise Hotaru would probably suffocate me with a pillow for ruining the darkness. Surprisingly enough, before I knew it, I fell asleep with my book open in my hands, and the lamp still lit.

**xoxo**

The first thing I saw after waking up from a rare period of sleeping was the clock silently shouting that it was six thirty with is bright reds lights. I had slept for about five hours straight! It was probably a record!

Hotaru was an early rester and an early riser. She always went to bed at ten and woke up at seven. It didn't matter whether there was a party or project to do.

I guess it's a good omen that I slept for so long. It felt... pretty good, to say the least. I lay there until Hotaru got up. She had an alarm clock, but she always got up ten seconds before it sounded.

"Good morning," I smiled at my slightly annoyed-looking roommate.

"You're awake," she gave a ladylike yawn, "did you sleep at all last night?"

I bore my morning-breath filled teeth proudly, "It appears that I slept for five hours straight. It's going to be a good day, Hotaru. I can feel it!"

"You can't just base off of whether you'll have a good day or bad day just by sleeping well," she started combing her hair.

"I'll have a good day," I decided.

"What are you going to do with Sumire? You do know about that stupid rivalry between the cheer squad and the swim team, right?" she glanced at me.

"I know. But we'll be fine."

At least that was what I hoped.

"Let's go pick Sumire and Anna up for breakfast," I declared.

"Don't you have breakfast with the swim team?"

"Ah, right. I forgot."

I waited for her to get ready in the bathroom so I could take a shower.

The fifth day was the orientation where the first years were showed around the school by the second years while the third years helped the teachers and the club instructors present things. Each first year received a "partner," who was a second year that would be responsible for his or her well-being and actions. The partner was supposed to act as a mentor, guide, and older sibling for the underclassmen during their first year of boarding school. I thought it was a cute system, since I never had an older sibling. I hoped I'd get someone like Misaki. She was nice and acted like the mother of the team. It really wasn't surprising, though. After all, she was the captain.

Speaking of Misaki, it was rumored that the boys' soccer team and the girls' swim team did a lot of their work-outs together because the two captains were an "item." Tsubasa Andou and Misaki Harada were childhood sweethearts or something. I guess it's pretty cute.

When Hotaru came out, drying her hair, I got up but was stopped by her.

"You took a shower last night, and you're going to run in an hour. If you shower now, it'll be both a waste of time and water. Go get changed and we'll leave."

"Okay," I grabbed my bag and she locked our door.

It appeared that Anna had already left for the cafeteria and Yuu was going to the office for his orientation speech. Every year, the highest scorer of the entrance exam had to give a speech. Hotaru had lost by three points, but she didn't care. She told me that Yuu was hard working while she was simply smart. Hotaru respected him more than anyone else.

When we reached Sumire's dorm house to walk to the Common House together, she was already leaving with some girls that seemed to be mostly upperclassmen. When Sumire saw us, she simply nodded to me coldly and greeted Hotaru with a huge smile and enthusiastic chatter. While she introduced the girls (who were actually the cheerleading team) to Hotaru, I stood with my swim bag in an awkward distance from the group.

"Oh, and who is this?" the leader of the little group met my eyes and asked Sumire.

"I'm Mikan Sakura," I smiled, glad that someone had taken notice. However, I became relieved too soon, because before I knew it, all the girls looked me up and down and asked the same question Sumire had asked me yesterday.

"Aren't you that girl who came to school with Natsume Hyuuga?"

I sighed, "Yeah, I am, but I swear; he was just hitching a ride from me because his family driver was sick."

"So you guys aren't like, together or anything," another girl pressed.

"No. I barely know him. I'm just friends with his little sister. That's all," I explained.

"Of course," the girl who had asked me who I was quieted the chattering girls that seemed to be excited at what I said and smiled at me. It was a huge transition from their previous sneers and glares.

"I'm Luna Koizumi," she continued into the new silence, "You know, you would be a great addition to the squad."

I blinked.

"Oh, um, thank you."

"I mean," she inspected me again; "I know that try outs are over for cheer, but you definitely have the looks. Plus, you clearly have the money, and you have connection to the Hyuugas. Join us, Mikan Sakura," she commanded.

In the background, I could see Sumire's face turning red, and some of the younger girls looking as annoyed and angry as she was.

"No," I declined, "Thank you, but I'm already tying out for another sport."

"Oh. Well, when you get cut, just give me a call or visit and you're in."

"I see," I smiled. I hated her already, "but I'm not very flexible. In fact, I'm the clumsiest person in the world."

"You're one os," Luna laughed. "You belong with us."

And with that, the girls walked away, but Sumire stayed with us for a minute. She turned to me.

"I hate you," she shoved me.

"Hey!"

"Shut up, Hotaru. Mikan, you're pretty. You come from an old family. You're friends with the Hyuugas. Did you hear Luna? You have everything and can be on the freaking squad by just being you. You think you're all that. I know. Do you even know how hard I worked for this?"

"Don't you dare tall me what I am," I shook her off me, "You know that I work hard too and don't you think you're pretty? Your family has the whole chain of hair salons and you tell me that I think I'm all that? I can't believe you, Sumire. I was going to apologize, but I guess I'm not going to."

"I hope you get on the swim team," she laughed almost crying, "then Luna will hate you and I'd have another excuse to never talk to a cocky liar."

Without another word, she ran to her little clique and Hotaru and I walked alone together to the Common House.

"They're not going to the Common House this morning," she told me after a long period of silence, "the cheer squad never eats in the Common House. They have a strict diet."

"I don't care."

"You know that Sumire is..."

"I know!" I turned to her, "But what she chooses to do is none of my business."

Hotaru didn't reply and simply gave me a pointed look.

"We aren't talking about this anymore," I grunted.

Hotaru went to sit with Anna and some old middle school friends after patting me on the back as I made my way to the swim team. They were talking about who our parents were and pretty much most of the girls were bragging about where they went over the summer or whatever. But a lot of the girls on the swim team actually came on partial athletic scholarship, which was really cool. Alice Academy had a hard entrance exam (which I have to admit that I almost failed due to my horrible math and science score), and a lot of kids bought their way in because their parents were alumni and donated millions to the school.

"My parents teach at Peters University," I smiled when Nonoko asked.

"Oh," one of the third years glanced across the table at me, "you're one of those."

I froze.

What did she mean "one of those"?

"Excuse me?" I put my fork down, "I'm sorry, but what do you mean by that?"

"You're the whole natural born type," she took a sip of juice. "All you have to do was tell the admission office that your parents were former students here and are professors from the best University in the country. Or you can just wave around your little flag telling them about your lineage. You don't need to study. In this school, everyone is supposed to be smart and hard working, but people like you just buy your way through."

I was angry. Sure, most of the girls here didn't exactly get into the school because of their talent, but that doesn't mean that I was like them.

"You know what? That's what you think," I glared at her, "Yeah, I'm 'one of those' who has parents with the money and the grandparents with the power. But that doesn't mean that I'm not as smart as you are, or work any less than you do. It doesn't even mean that you're faster than me in the pool. Yes, you are now, I know, but I'm going to freaking beat you someday. You want to know why? It's because I have something you don't. And I'm not talking about money."

It was a de ja vue moment just like yesterday when I yelled at Sumire, except only the swim team could hear my hard words. I continued.

"I have integrity. I sure as hell don't look at you as some lowly scholarship student, so you'd better not think of me as some corrupted bratty rich kid, because I'm not. I passed the exams using my own brain, and the only things my parents paid for were the tuition and boarding costs. So don't you dare judge me."

And with that, the whole table of over fifty girls was silent.

Screw this judgmental upperclassman, Luna Koizumi, and Sumire for ruining my supposed good day.

Screw this school!

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**Important Message:**_I have seen a lot of plagiarism cases, especially at FP's sister site, fictionpress, and I hate it. I've also seen some on fanfiction (yes, this applies to GA too). In no way is plagiarism okay. It's the worst thing ever, and if you do it then you deserve to go through the harshest punishments in the universe. And you WILL get that- from me. Got it? Because you better: for your own safety and everyone else's. I'm sure everyone has talent to write their own work rather than copy other people's. Thanks for reading._

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**Review! Please don't be a silent reader. I want to know what you think :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Hey everyone, I'm horribly sorry to tell you all that I'm going on a hiatus for a while. Life is sort of a mess right now with one of my closest friends passing away on Wednesday night (she got into a car crash earlier in the week and was taken off life support). School's practically swallowing me and I'm training for states (100 yd. butterfly, which I'll be swimming for my beautiful girl up in heaven). I'm really sorry; I'm just not in the mood to write or anything. I have some stuff written for WBWL but I just don't feel like it. Sorry; I'll be back, but yeah...

Rest in peace, GCJ. Love you and miss you like crazy, best friend. So many memories were created in all 10 years I've known you.

Claire Poncherrii


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